162: Chapter 162 Treasure List

"Holy crap! Heavenly Dao System! It's actually giving away treasures?"

"Is... is this for real?"

"Look! There's an Epic Troop Potential Upgrade Card! And a Troop Count Increase Card!"

"Damn it! I'm only at 5-star black iron, I haven't even touched Elite rank yet, what do I do?"

"Wait! There's also a substitute puppet? How much does this thing cost?"

"Surrender? Give up my status as a lord? Wouldn't that mean all my previous investments were for nothing?"

"Don't panic! The system said it will only stop the exchange when the number of lords drops below 1000. We're definitely nowhere near that number right now!"

"This news is definitely a trap! The system must want us to kill each other!"

"But... that treasure list... just that Specified Five Elements Complete Law Crystal alone, how much is that worth?"

All kinds of voices—skepticism, greed, panic, anticipation, conspiracy theories—filled the entire chat channel, pushing this land, which had once been relatively peaceful, completely into the eye of a storm.

It was destined that the release of this news would become an important turning point in the history of the Eternal Continent.

The relationships between lords would rapidly slide from their initial harmonious coexistence into an abyss of deceit and bloody slaughter.

And this "Treasure War" sparked by the Heavenly Dao System had only just begun.

The tolling of the midnight bell, mixed with the grand and seductive announcement of the Heavenly Dao System, washed over Lin Tian's not-yet-calm mind like a cold tide.

The notification sound faded from his mind, and the study fell back into silence, with only the occasional "crackling" of candle flames and his own gradually stabilizing breathing.

Lin Tian leaned back against his large chair, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the smooth armrest, making a rhythmic sound.

He did not immediately look at the virtual treasure list that had popped up before him, shimmering with an alluring glow; instead, he narrowed his eyes slightly and cast his gaze toward the deep night outside the window.

"Heh, it's here."

He muttered to himself, his lips curling into an expression that was hard to tell if it was mocking or excited.

Unexpected, yet within reason.

This Eternal Continent, or rather the "Heavenly Dao" behind it, truly wouldn't let them, these "players," live in peace for too long.

The novice protection was over, the server merge was complete, and now, it was time for the main course: to determine the strongest batch of lords.

His gaze finally fell upon the list, which contained over a hundred items.

Even with his current vision and resources, when he saw "Specified Five Elements Complete Law Crystal," "Troop Potential Upgrade Card (Epic to Legendary)," "substitute puppet," "Troop Count +100 Card"...

...at these words, his heart still skipped a few beats uncontrollably, and a burning sensation rose from the bottom of his heart, spreading to his limbs.

Not envious? That would be a lie.

He wasn't a saint, after all.

Any one of those items would be enough to cause a qualitative change in his strength, let alone gathering them all.

"And then looking at the over five hundred thousand brothers under my command..."

Lin Tian withdrew his gaze, his eyes becoming sharp and clear again, the previous hint of heat replaced by a calmer, more calculated mindset.

He stood up, walked to the window, and pushed it open.

The night wind rushed in, carrying the chill of late autumn, as well as the faint sounds of campfires from the distant military camp and the friction of the patrolling soldiers' armor.

An army of five hundred thousand.

A core of one hundred thousand Epic-tier troops, consisting of mages, Archers, and defensive units.

Two hundred thousand flying Heavy Armored Dragon Riders.

Plus himself and Lin Yin, who were at the Platinum rank, along with a group of Gold-rank generals.

This force, placed in this newly merged region, might not be able to walk sideways, but it was definitely a behemoth that could make the ground tremble with a single stomp.

"Mercy?"

Lin Tian scoffed and shook his head, as if mocking himself for having had the fleeting thought of "is this too cruel."

What time did he think it was?

The Heavenly Dao had already handed him the knife and dangled the fat right in front of his eyes; what was the point of pretending to be a saint now?

"If I don't attack others, should I just wait for them to team up, or for some hidden powerhouse to target me and attack me instead?"

He turned around, leaning against the window sill, his gaze sweeping over the simple yet sturdy furnishings in the study, as if making a declaration to himself and to this territory.

"Kill when you need to kill, subdue when you need to subdue. Compared to tangible treasures and the future development of the territory, those pointless 'moral burdens' are worth absolutely nothing."

"Besides."

A cold light flashed in his eyes.

"In this world, weakness is the original sin. I have the power now; if I don't use it and don't fight, should I wait for others to grow stronger and crap on my head?"

His train of thought was clearer than ever.

Once the Heavenly Dao's "Attack Points" system was released, the rules of the game for the entire region completely changed.

It went from "potential conflict" to "inevitable war."

The tender veil of decency was completely torn away; what followed would be naked survival of the fittest, where the winner takes all.

"I must seize this opportunity and develop rapidly!"

Lin Tian walked back to the desk, braced his hands on the surface, and leaned forward, his eyes burning with flames of ambition and urgency.

"Points are resources, points are strength! If I don't grab them now, once those powerful lords react and band together, or the points are mostly divided up, it will be hard to catch up later."

He immediately thought of the defense issue.

If he went out to grab points, his home base absolutely could not be compromised.

An army of five hundred thousand sounded like a lot, but spread across this newly expanded, fifty-kilometer-radius territory, and with troops divided for conquest, the pressure to defend the home base was still significant.

"Starting tomorrow, the patrols and vigilance for defending the home base must be raised by another level! Be relaxed on the outside but tight on the inside; increase hidden sentries and mobile posts at all vital locations and within the coverage of the Warning Towers. Lin Yan's Earth Spirit Guards must be split up more to reinforce the city defenses."

He calculated quickly in his mind.

"The troops going out for conquest must also have a quick-response reserve, ensuring that if anything happens at home, they can immediately return to reinforce."

Thinking about tomorrow's specific actions, he already had a plan.

"I still need to recruit troops!"

Lin Tian gritted his teeth; although his Spirit Crystals had just recovered, he couldn't be stingy when it was time to spend.

"First thing tomorrow morning, I'll use the Replication Realm to copy another batch of the elemental crystals I have on hand, and then burst-produce troops!"

"Recruit more new troops and use resources to quickly Fusion them into basic combat power. Mix some new troops with experienced veterans to form a solid garrison corps responsible for guarding the home."

"As for myself."

A sharp light flashed in his eyes, as if he could already see the scenes of conquest.

"I will personally lead the main elite forces and attack! I'll use that newly issued attack order token to find a suitable 'soft persimmon'."

"Or... I'll see who's jumping around the most in the regional channel, whoever used to be Long Ao's lackey and cursed me the loudest, I'll take them out first! It will both earn me points and establish my authority!"

"As for logistics, that will rely on the refugees and those magical crop seeds..."

He thought of those two hundred thousand mouths to feed, and the planned hundred-square-kilometer fertile fields in the east.

"I need to have Yang Xu arrange for all of them to go out and farm for me! Clearing land, sowing, irrigating, harvesting... Logistics is the foundation; it cannot be messed up. They just need to farm the fields well and produce the food and forage for me, that's all!"